Worldwide: Government, Public Sector

The European Commission's Industrial Accelerator Act proposes to reshape battery supply chains by conditioning access to EU public procurement and support schemes on strict origin requirements. As China controls over 80% of global battery manufacturing capacity, the legislation introduces escalating component-count thresholds that could fundamentally alter market access, financing structures, and supplier eligibility across the battery value chain.

The focus for South African entrepreneurs is rightly on building the business, finding customers and generating revenue. Offshore structures and international expansion often feel like something to think about later. The reality, however, is that many technology businesses reach a point where the structure that worked on day one is no longer the structure that best supports future growth.

Nigeria's development trajectory depends critically on modern legal frameworks that can attract investment, reduce risk, and create the institutional certainty necessary for economic transformation. This analysis examines how deliberate legal reform in sectors like electricity, education, healthcare, and infrastructure can serve as strategic tools for industrialization, drawing lessons from China's reform architecture and Rwanda's regulatory overhaul.

The European Union's 20th and 21st sanctions packages against Russia mark a fundamental shift in enforcement strategy, moving beyond traditional designation lists to systematically target the financial infrastructure enabling Russia's war economy. Financial institutions now face heightened compliance obligations requiring them to identify how transactions, financing arrangements, and digital assets may indirectly facilitate sanctioned economic activity across payment channels, banking relationships, crypto-

The Gulf of Guinea has witnessed a significant transformation in maritime security threats, with illegal fishing emerging as a critical challenge following the decline in piracy incidents. This analysis examines how Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has evolved into a major economic and security concern for Nigeria and neighboring West African states, exploring the legal frameworks, enforcement gaps, and systemic weaknesses that enable this lucrative criminal activity to persist despite inte

South Africa's proposed Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill introduces sweeping changes to beneficial ownership compliance, including new discrepancy reporting obligations...

A UK court ruling in the Bille and Ogale Communities case has exposed critical gaps in Nigeria's African Charter Act, raising questions about whether the 1983 legislation adequately enables human rights claims against private corporations.

The Republic of Niger has taken a significant step in intellectual property law by acceding to the Marrakesh Treaty, joining other African Intellectual Property Organization member states in this commitment. This development will enable improved access to published works for persons with print disabilities through the creation and international exchange of accessible format copies.

The Polluter Pays Principle raises a fundamental question of environmental justice in Nigeria: who should bear the cost when pollution damages the environment and the lives of affected communities? This article examines the principle's application in Nigeria's oil and gas sector, exploring the critical distinction between financial compensation...

South Africa's Department of Justice has published draft regulations that would fundamentally transform how oaths and affirmations are administered by allowing electronic commissioning through audio-visual communication. This development follows years of legal uncertainty and conflicting court decisions about whether commissioners of oaths could validly administer oaths remotely, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when physical presence became impractical.

A UK court ruling in the Bille and Ogale Communities case has exposed critical gaps in Nigeria's African Charter Act, raising questions about whether the 1983 legislation adequately enables human rights claims against private corporations.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has published draft Regulations introducing formal provisions for electronic commissioning of affidavits in South Africa. This legislative modernisation proposes to allow commissioners to administer oaths remotely through audio-visual communication, fundamentally changing the traditional requirement for physical presence while maintaining essential safeguards.